Winifred
Winifred is an elephant who appears in Disney's 1967 film The Jungle Book. She is the wife of Colonel Hathi.In the original film, she was voiced by Verna Felton, who previously voiced Flora in Sleeping Beauty, The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and Mrs. Jumbo and the Elephant Matriarch in Dumbo. In the prequel TV Series Jungle Cubs, she was voiced by Kath Soucie, who also voiced the Bimbettes in Beauty and the Beast, and Kanga from 2000 to 2010. Background Winifred is a female Indian Elephant. She is a member of Colonel Hathi's jungle patrol and appears to be one of the only female members, though this may be because she is married to Hathi. Unlike many mothers seen in Disney films, Winifred is snarky and sarcastic, never hesitating to remind Hathi of his faults. However, she is shown to be caring for others, caring enough for the lost Mowgli's welfare that she is willing to convince her husband to initiate a search party for the man-cub. Together, she and her husband have one son, Hathi, Jr., who comes to be friends with Mowgli. Appearances The Jungle Book Winifred's appearances are during the two Jungle Patrol scenes in the film. In her first appearance, she is shown to march behind Hathi most of the time. However, upon stopping, she complains to a neighboring elephant about how her feet are aching due to her husband's constant marching. She participates in the inspection and is reprimanded for her back legs not being straight. After the elephant herd leaves to resume their patrol, she asks Hathi if he's forgotten anything. Though the pompous Hathi insists he never forgets, Winifred notes that he's forgotten their son. Hathi orders an immediate about face and goes to scold his son for not leaving with the group. However, the rest of the herd, still marching, crashed into them. Winifred appears later when Bagheera stops the herd in order to seek their help in finding Mowgli, who has run away. Hathi initially refuses, angering Winifred into breaking ranks in order to set him straight. She calls Hathi a "pompous old windbag", and compares Mowgli to their own son, whom Hathi would most certainly search for if lost. She threatens to overthrow Hathi and take over command if Hathi refuses to help in the search, much to Hathi's shock and disbelief. However, this, combined with an appeal from their son, convinces Hathi to help. Winifred is not seen individually after this, but it can be assumed she assisted the herd in the search. While Winifred doesn't appear in The Jungle Book 2, fans believe that she might be among the herd when they form a line to prevent Baloo from going to the Man Village as well as when the herd stampedes into a cave to avoid the humans who have entered the jungle to search for Mowgli. Like the rest of her family, she does not appear for the rest of the film after that. Jungle Cubs Winifred appears as a supporting character in Jungle Cubs. In this series, Winifred is a young domesticated elephant who has been separated from her herd by a fire. Soon after, she meets Hathi. In a lead up to the first film, the young Hathi develops a crush on her. It also is shown that she used to have brown hair. She appears only twice in both seasons and in the second season, her hair is a darker brown color and more clean. Cameos In Fantasia 2000, an elephant that is believed to be Winifred makes a cameo along with another elephant that is believed to be Colonel Hathi During the "Pomp and Circumstance" segment of the film. Trivia * Verna Felton, Winifred's original voice actress, also voiced the matriarch elephant in ''Dumbo, ''which was her first Disney role. Ironically, Winifred was also Felton's final acting role ever due to her death before the film was released (a day before Walt Disney), therefore bringing her entire acting career full circle. * Winifred is not present in the original "Jungle Book" novel. Her character was conceived entirely by Disney for the film. * Winifred is the only female elephant in the entire herd. Ironically, in real life, most elephants are actually led by females instead of males, and males usually live alone. ** This was even pointed out near the end when Hathi and his herd are trying to help Bagheera find Mowgli, and when Hathi refuses, Winifred threatens him by saying that if he doesn't help Bagheera, she will kick him out and take over as leader, causing Hathi to exclaim, "What?! A female leading my herd?! That's utterly preposterous!" Category:Characters Category:The Jungle Book characters Category:Females Category:Animals Category:Heroines Category:Wives Category:Elephants Category:Mothers Category:Adults Category:Parents Category:In love Category:Disney characters